Technology company Hawkeye are in talks with the IRB to offer a possible aid to match officials which removes the possibility of human error by on-field or television match officials.

Company founder, Paul Hawkins, told the BBC the firm was "in conversation with Premiership Rugby and the IRB … our system is a much cleverer way of looking at incidents. In Aussie rules, we have halved the average time for decisions to be made.

"Premiership Rugby and the IRB are aware of our products. We hope of course they will be there for next season and it would be great if we were there for the World Cup."

A downside of Hawkeye would be the cost. As it stands, TMOs rely on feeds from broadcasters but Hawkeye requires separate equipment, the cost of which would probably limit its use to major matches.

A spokesman for the IRB said the TMO system will continue to be assessed until August. "The TMO is under a process of continual evaluation to promote clear, consistent and accurate decision-making while keeping game-time impact minimal.

"We are constantly looking at ways to improve the TMO process to help our match officials and although we have spoken to Hawkeye we have no plans to use it at the moment."